The Dangers of Survivorship Bias

February 6
9 mins

Episode Description

In the early days of World War II, the U.S. military was losing too many of its planes in battle. To stem the tide, analysts started mapping the bullet holes on the returning planes.


Their plan was to add armor to the specific areas of the planes identified by the exercise.


Based on their analysis, they came to the conclusion that reinforcement to the tail, body, and wings would improve their odds of survival.

But a young statistician named Abraham Wald raised his hand with a warning:


They were making a tragic mistake...

•••

Mel Robbins called my first book "a powerful wake-up call that will push you to rethink everything about how you’re spending your time." 

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